Behind the island.
In a basement within a castle.
"Ah~"
Perona clutched her head, curled into a ball, and screamed incessantly.
"Lord Moria is dead. Absalom is dead too."
Fear, endless fear, filled her heart.
That fleeting, chilling blade light had shattered her soul, and more than that, it had shattered her once-confident heart.
Silently, Kong Tai's figure appeared in the room.
Staring at Perona, who was screaming from soul-tearing agony, he sensed the fear emanating from her.
Kong Tai hesitated for a moment.
But he quickly quashed it.
In this world, no one could pay the price for another's life, not even their closest kin.
He wouldn't delve into what Perona had done before; it was meaningless.
However, since she had appeared on this island today and had acted against them, she had to accept the consequences.
Lifting his head, he stared at Perona, his eyes turning utterly cold.
As if sensing something, her screams abruptly stopped. Perona, who had been trembling, stilled. The imminent danger of death made her snap her head up, her gaze meeting Kong Tai's icy blue eyes, which seemed capable of freezing the soul.
There was no time to scream, no time for fear, not even time to react.
In a daze, the chilling blade light, as if transcending time and space, like a gentle breeze, instantly grazed Perona's neck, grazing the half-remaining portion of her soul.
Heavy… the weight of her soul, the weight of her body, the weight of her eyelids.
The darkness that followed instantly swallowed Perona's soul.
Her eyes' light extinguished in an instant.
Bang—!
The dull thud of her body hitting the ground was exceptionally jarring in the underground chamber.
Gazing at Perona on the bed, who looked like a shattered porcelain doll, a hint of pity flickered in Kong Tai's eyes.
Not pity for Perona herself, but pity for such a young life vanishing.
If one were to be truly fair, Perona wasn't entirely at fault.
She had been an orphan since childhood, found by Moria, and had grown up on Thriller Bark, in the Devil's Triangle.
Her personality was bound to be different from that of ordinary people.
"If you blame anyone, blame this world for making you an orphan, and blame yourself for encountering us and acting against us!"
Kong Tai sighed slightly and sheathed his sword.
He then pulled out his wine gourd and took a long drink.
Lowering his head to look at Perona's corpse, with a thought, the bed that bore her body softened like dough and, with a creaking sound, enveloped her.
Then, a crack appeared in the ground, and a simple coffin slowly descended, disappearing into the fissure.
"I'm getting more and more skilled at this!"
"Killing, burying, a complete package."
"Heh heh!!"
He chuckled self-deprecatingly. The fissure closed, and Kong Tai's figure, along with his laughter, vanished from this unknown underground space.
...
"What are you doing?"
Silently, Kong Tai appeared beside Kuina. He first glanced at A Hua and the other two engaged in intense combat, shaking his head with a sigh.
Then he turned to Brook and smiled, "Congratulations, Brook."
"Yohohoho~"
Brook was no longer surprised by Kong Tai's sudden appearance. He laughed heartily, "We were just talking about this sword!"
"The sword?"
Kong Tai was startled for a moment, then as if recalling something, he glanced at Ryuma's corpse lying motionless on the ground in the distance.
He then shifted his gaze back to the sword in Kuina's hand, "So it really is this sword!"
Even though he knew, he feigned surprise.
The moment Kong Tai appeared, Kuina's gaze was already on him. Seeing his feigned surprise, she pouted slightly, then a gentle smile appeared in her eyes.
"Here! You tell Brook!"
"Alright!"
Taking the sword handed over by Kuina, Kong Tai twirled it in his hand, then casually swung it to the side.
*Puff!*
An invisible slash cut through the air, leaving a deep crack in the ground.
"A fine sword."
Brook looked down at the crack on the ground, feeling a pang in his teeth, though he only had teeth left.
"So strong."
This referred to both the sword's strength and the person's strength.
After all, he hadn't sensed any aura from Kong Tai just now, and Kong Tai hadn't exerted much force; it was just a gentle swing.
To achieve this much.
Such a powerful individual was beyond his comprehension.
"Brook, Brook..."
The repeated calls jolted the dazed Brook.
He came back to his senses, looked up at Kong Tai, and laughed heartily, "My apologies, I didn't expect Mr. Kong Tai to be so powerful. Forgive my impertinence."
"Haha!!"
Kong Tai smiled faintly and then said, "Don't you want to know what this sword really is?"
"Yes!"
Brook nodded, then his gaze fixed on the sword in Kong Tai's hand.
"This sword is one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords, 'Shusui.' It is an exceptionally rare 'Black Blade'."
Kong Tai raised the sword and said slowly.
"Black Blade?"
Brook's face showed confusion. "I know about Great Grade Swords; that's the world's designation for famous weapons, but what is a 'Black Blade'?"
"A Black Blade is, a Black Blade is..."
Kong Tai looked at Brook, unsure how to explain it for a moment.
Brook didn't know about Haki's existence yet, so he naturally wouldn't understand what a Black Blade was.
And to explain a Black Blade, he first had to explain what Haki was.
Therefore, Kong Tai proceeded to give Brook a rough explanation of Haki.
"So, the power A Hua Sangbu used on his fists earlier to shatter the ghost's strength was Haki, right?"
After listening to Kong Tai's explanation, Brook recalled the ghost-shattering power A Hua had displayed earlier and seemed to understand.
When the ghost had appeared earlier, he had sensed that it wasn't something ordinary strength could affect.
But then, under A Hua's palm, the ghost had exploded like a balloon.
He had thought earlier that A Hua had used some power he didn't know about. Now, it seemed it was Haki.
"Yes, that's Haki."
As he spoke, Kong Tai raised the sword, and a black aura flowed from his arm, like a black snake, slowly coiling around the blade of Shusui.
To let Brook experience it more fully, his movements were slow. "A Black Blade is a weapon wrapped in Haki. After countless battles, it slowly absorbs Haki, causing the entire sword to gradually turn black, thereby forging a more resilient and sharper blade. This is the designation for such a sword."
"Oh..."
Brook nodded, understanding now.
However, the next question immediately arose, "According to Mr. Kong Tai's explanation, many people in the New World use Haki. Doesn't that mean there are many Black Blades in the New World?"
"Then why is Shusui considered exceptionally rare?"
"That's a good question!"
Lowering his hand, Kong Tai looked at Brook and asked, "You don't think that just having Haki allows you to forge a Black Blade, do you?"
"Uh..."
Brook was speechless. He realized he had asked a foolish question. If Black Blades were truly common, they wouldn't be considered exceptionally rare.
"In theory, any sword can be forged into a Black Blade, but that's just in theory."
Kong Tai explained with a smile, "As far as I know, there are only two known Black Blades in this world, and one of them is the 'Shusui' in front of us."
"Would you say that counts as exceptionally rare?"
Brook gave an embarrassed chuckle, "Yes, yes, it does."